We have all learned about the crazed beheadings during the French Revolution, and we all remember Panems games each year, the government in The Hunger Games. These are all forms of punishment by death – the death penalty, as we know it. Today, I will talk about the recent capital punishment in Alabama carried out with nitrogen hypoxia, before talking about the justice in the death penalty, in order to show that this is a serious matter that is to be treated as such in order to enact justice in the most efficient manner.
On January 25 of this year, we saw the first U.S. execution by nitrogen gas. Kenneth Smith, a convicted murderer, was held at the William C Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore Alabama. He was one of 3 men charged with murder, paid by a pastor to kill his wife. The method of execution caused a significant amount of controversy in the recent media, with people arguing about the morality and ethics surrounding the practice. It was stated that he died of nitrogen hypoxia, due to the mask they use to administer the gas to the prisoner. There are many arguments as to why people vote to continue and uphold the death penalty in the states, the top two being: deterrence (it scares off future murderers), equal retribution (a life for the lives taken). This has been an ongoing argument amongst global communities, as this tradition of serving death penalties is one that has been going on since the eighteenth century BCE. The side pushing to abolish the death penalty in the U.S. brings up mainly humanitarian issues; such as how inhumane the process is, the irreversibility of the act itself, and how it often serves to continue racial and/or economical biases that exist in and outside of the prison system.
My argument today is an emphasis on how nuanced this kind of topic is. While the death penalty is a grave punishment to be served with, it is one that cannot go away unless other reforms come with it as well in relations to the inner workings of the U.S. prison system. My purpose here today is to inform you of a change in an argument that has withstood the downfall of many societies before us: is there justice in the death penalty? My initial thoughts – upon hearing about how they recently carried out the punishment in Alabama- were those of apprehension. I wondered why they were “testing” out this new method on a prisoner of the state, why the creators of this felt the need to update the method in which we put someone to death. Looking further into the situation, I can say that while the U.S. prison system’s punishment of the death penalty is not something that is currently handled correctly, or ethically, I can say with complete certainty that this punishment will not be one that goes away unless other reforms to the prison system come with it.
More Americans favor than oppose the death penalty: 60% of U.S. adults favor the death penalty for people convicted of murder, including 27% who strongly favor it. About four-in-ten (39%) oppose the death penalty, with 15% strongly opposed, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. 78% of people say there is some risk that an innocent person will be put to death, while only 21% think there are adequate safeguards in place to prevent that from happening. 56% of people say Black people are more likely than White people to be sentenced to the death penalty for being convicted of serious crimes. More than six-in-ten Americans (63%), including about half of death penalty supporters (48%), say the death penalty does not deter people from committing serious crimes. While the majority of American citizens are in relative support for the Death penalty, they know to not fully place their trust in it, as the problem lies not with the punishment but with the system that is doling it out. For the death penalty to be applied fairly, we must make the criminal justice system work as it was intended to. According to roughly a dozen recent studies, executions save lives. For each inmate put to death, the studies say, 3 to 18 murders are prevented. This invalidates one of the other side’s main arguments – that the death penalty doesn’t deter or resolve the root cause of the crime committed. While this is still morally arguable, the death penalty is a punishment doled out not necessarily meant to solve the issue of murder on the streets, this statistic proves it does that as well as deliver justice to the victims of the accused and the Country.
In conclusion, the death sentence in the United States Prison System is morally and ethically wrong. The recent sentencing that occured in Alabama is a capital punishment, the same as the ones we were taught during any national insurrection. While the death penalty brings a sense of justice to the victims, it lacks the ability to resolve the root issue or realistically prevent it from happening. Understanding both sides of the arguments in concern to the death penalty, I urge you to think about not abolishing the death penalty, but how to lower the mortality rate inside of the US prison Systems.
